The corner area of a hollow chamber seal is a problem zone, since during installation the hollow chamber seal deforms in this area, with a change in its cross section. This has functional and esthetic drawbacks which, however, may be avoided by use of appropriate measures.
DE 10 2004 020 799 A1 describes a hollow profile seal, preferably for the inlet opening of an oven or stove, which is attached along the circumference at the edge of the inlet opening, wherein reinforcing elements are mounted in the hollow profile in the corner or curved sections, and the joint formed by the end sections of the hollow profile seal circumferentially surrounding the loading opening is selected in such a way that a reinforcing element spans the joint and connects the adjacent end sections.
An elastic hollow profile is known from DE 100 46 975 A1, having at least one hollow chamber and at least one corner curvature for lying flush along a corner area of a vehicle cutout section for a movable locking part, wherein the hollow chamber is used for accommodating a sensor apparatus, and the object to be achieved is to allow functioning of the sensor apparatus in the area of corner curvatures having the smallest possible radius of curvature. For this purpose, the hollow profile is cut out in the corner area up to the hollow chamber, and the cut-out section is filled by a separately manufactured corner unit which is adapted to the angle of curvature of the corner area. As a result, stresses caused by the curvature of the elastic hollow profile are reduced, and the cross section of the hollow chamber remains the same relative to the linear areas, even in the area of the corner curvature.
A corner structure of the generic type is known from DE 299 23 157 U1. This involves a hollow chamber seal which is mounted on a vehicle sliding roof. The sliding roof in the closed state must be sealed off with respect to the vehicle roof. For this purpose, a multipart hollow chamber seal is affixed to the border of the sliding roof. This hollow chamber seal is made up of a sealing part which extends around a corner in a curve, and a further sealing part which adjoins the same via a butt seam. A connecting tube which passes through the butt seam is inserted into these two sealing parts, and extends over the entire curvature of the sealing part which runs around the corner. This connecting tube, as a filler piece, absorbs the deformation forces which act in the corner area of the hollow chamber seal during installation, and diverts them into the sliding roof. As a result, the original cross section of the hollow chamber seal is essentially maintained in the corner area, thus avoiding wind noise and also ensuring a reliable sealing function in this area.
A disadvantage of this approach known from the prior art is that the above-mentioned advantages often are no longer present after extended use, since the connecting tube migrates in the hollow chamber seal, thus eliminating its supportive effect. In addition, introducing the connecting tube into the hollow chamber seal is very complicated. A further disadvantage is that an aesthetically undesirable butt seam is visible at the connecting point between the two sealing parts.